The Puzzle of Mercenary Tao
by WhitethornWolf
Summary: For anyone who wondered just what Chiyo and Goku got up to while searching for the Dragon Balls. [COMPLETE]
1. Chapter 1

It may have been coming up to winter in the eastern parts of the world, but it was hard to tell the weather when you were thousands of feet above the ground. The wind was stronger so high up, enough to buffet any man or machine, and flying through a cloud was like throwing yourself into a lake.

Chiyo had learned that the hard way once, and she wasn't silly enough to make the same mistake again.

"So you've never seen a Dragon Ball before?" Goku said, and looked at Chiyo over his shoulder. She was riding on his back, hands on his shoulders and legs clinging to his sides for all she was worth. She was perfectly capable of flying by herself, but she was a lot slower than Papa - a fact he told her in his cheerful manner, and seemed amused at her indignant scowl. Chiyo didn't like admitting her weaknesses to anyone, not even him.

The ground rushed by in a dizzying fashion below them. The landscape was changing rapidly; half an hour before they'd been dodging the skyscrapers of West City. Now it was farms and rolling hills, and soon it would be desert, if she remembered her geography lessons correctly.

"We-ell," Chiyo said hesitantly. "I might have, when I was really little. But I don't remember what they look like."

Goku tugged on the string around his neck and pulled a round metal device from his shirt. It looked sort of like a compass, with a green glowing screen.

"That's the Dragon Radar, right Papa?"

"Sure is," Goku said cheerfully. He pulled the string over his head and passed the device to her. "Careful, don't drop it or Bulma will kill me. You can be our navigator, okay?"

Now that she had the radar, Chiyo could see a yellow dot towards the centre of the screen. The device beeped softly and rhythmically. "How does it work?"

"Uhhh…I'm not sure," Goku admitted with a laugh. "Bulma made it, so she knows."

"Bulma made this? _Wow!_"

"It's pretty cool. Do you see that yellow dot? That's our next Dragon Ball. Can you tell me which direction it's in?"

"Uhm...east. That way." She pointed, and Goku adjusted his flight. Chiyo let go of him and dropped into the open air, adjusting her speed so she was level with him. He grinned at her. "Tired of playing piggyback already?"

"I can keep up!" Chiyo retorted, then cast another glance at the radar. "Hey, Papa. Didn't you fly around the world like this a long time ago?"

Goku scratched his head. "Well, sort of...I did most of my flying on Kinto'un in those days. I couldn't fly like you and Gohan."

"Oh…okay. Hey, Papa?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me the story about the Dragon Balls again?"

* * *

It took another hour to reach the barren centre of the continent. By then Chiyo was a little tired of seeing miles and miles of desert, and tasting sand on her tongue every time she opened her mouth. But the yellow dot was right in the centre of the radar, and according to Papa, they were right on top of it.

"I don't see it, Papa." Chiyo gave the radar a slight shake and peered at it closer, as if the Dragon Ball would suddenly reveal itself.

"Hmm." Goku shielded his eyes from the sun and peered at the endless expanse of sand. "The radar says it's right here." He sat down and Chiyo followed suit. The sun beat down on her face and the wind threw stinging sand into her eyes, but she knew better than to complain.

The horizon shimmered in the heat. A truck appeared, its outline blurring and wavering so Chiyo had to blink furiously to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"Hey Papa, look! Someone's coming!"

The truck slowed down as it approached. An old man stuck his head out the window, his gaze taking in the man and the little girl sitting on the sand.

"You thar!" he yelled. "There's a sandstorm comin'!"

Without a further word the truck accelerated and quickly disappeared.

"Are sandstorms bad?" Chiyo asked, but Goku wasn't listening.

"The Dragon Ball must've been buried by sandstorms," he said, and stood up. "Hey Chiyo, show me some of those skills you learned in the Room. But don't use too much power, or you'll blow me away along with the Dragon Ball!"

Chiyo giggled at the image that popped into her mind, but she closed her eyes and exhaled.

_Slowly, carefully_, she reminded herself, but she may as well have not bothered. Months in the Room with Piccolo had taught her an even greater control over her chi. She felt the wind pick up around her, turning the hot air into a breeze.

"There it is!" Goku said, and Chiyo opened her eyes. He dived into the small crater her chi had created, and emerged with something round and glowing in his hand.

"This is a Dragon Ball."

It was the most beautiful thing Chiyo had ever seen. She stared wide-eyed, taking in its shining surface, orange core and the three red stars in its centre. It was heavier than she expected, and she rolled it back and forth, squinting as the sunlight reflected off it.

"It's _pretty_," she breathed. "How many are there again?"

"Seven Dragon Balls in all. We need to find them and take them to Dende."

"And then Shen- Shen-"

Goku took the Dragon Ball and put it in his pocket. "The dragon god, Shen Long, comes out and grants us two wishes."

Chiyo looked up at her father for a second, then smiled.

"You're tryin' to trick me!" she said.

"I'm not!" Goku laughed. "You'll see for yourself when we find them all. Shen Long will come out and we can use those wishes to bring back all the people Cell killed."

Chiyo's smile faded. She frowned at the radar clenched in her hand, then looked up at Goku.

"Then what are we waiting for?" she said. "Let's go."

The day wore on. Chiyo and Goku recovered two more Dragon Balls - one in a field of elephants

whose antics made Chiyo squeal with delight (Goku had trouble dragging her away from them), and the other in a deep canyon.

Chiyo insisted on flying alongside Goku, but flying took up time and energy. It was sunset by the time they'd found the fourth ball, and Chiyo was lagging behind with exhaustion. Goku carried her in the crook of one arm as he walked along a winding road.

"Papa, where are we?" Chiyo murmured sleepily, her face half-buried in his jacket.

"I'm not sure. Somewhere in the north-west, I think."

She yawned widely and shifted in his arms. "Are we near the next Dragon Ball?"

"Not yet," Goku said, his tone amused. "You're way too sleepy to look for Dragon Balls right now."

"But I'm not tired - " Chiyo cut herself off with a yawn. "I'm not, really. I can be the navigator for a little while …" she yawned again, and Goku chuckled.

"I'm sure you can," he said. "But Papa needs his sleep as well."

"Well, okay," Chiyo mumbled. "If you wanna stop I guess ...I guess we could…"

* * *

When Chiyo opened her eyes next it was dark. She lay sideways on grass with a blanket covering her - no, Papa's jacket, she realised. The texture of the fabric was familiar, especially as she'd fallen asleep pressing her face into it.

There was a small fire crackling nearby, and Goku was nowhere to be seen. She was barefoot, her shoes in a bundle beside her.

The grass was cold and the blades tickled her toes when she got up, glancing around. The grass gave way to mud a few feet away, and beyond that was a lake. The water glittered black in the moonlight. Chiyo drew a little closer to it. "Papa?"

On the embankment she found a pair of jeans, shoes and a white shirt she recognized as belonging to her father, but there were no signs of him otherwise. There was no signs of anybody in fact; no sounds but the trees rustling and the occasional call of an owl.

Chiyo hadn't been afraid of the dark since she was three years old, but it was hard to be brave in the middle of nowhere. Especially when Papa wasn't around.

She jumped violently as a wolf's howl floated from the surrounding forest, and skittered nervously back to the fire. Wolves she could handle, but there were other things around - much worse things. Like Cell, who could sneak up behind her without her even knowing -

A sudden ripple disturbed the lake and Goku's head emerged. He rose from the water, dragging a huge fish by its tail.

"Papa!"

Chiyo had a difficult time concealing her relief. Goku landed on the banks with the fish, shook his head until droplets splattered everywhere, and smiled down at her. "Not a bad catch, eh?" he looked closely at his daughter, noticing her white face and big eyes. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Chiyo nodded mutely. "Yeah, I'm okay." The darkness didn't seem as scary now.

"There's my girl," he said. "You didn't think I was going to leave you?"

Twenty minutes later and the fish disappeared at an alarming rate as Goku and Chiyo devoured it as quickly as they could. Mom may have been better at making rice, but Papa had lived on fish when he was younger - and bear, and wolf, and all sorts of weird meat Chiyo had never tried.

"Hey," Goku said presently, while chewing on a piece of the fish. "Tell me how you did in the Room of Spirit and Time. Was Piccolo a tough teacher?"

"What d'you think?" Chiyo said, and he laughed. "Piccolo said he needed to toughen me up. He made me fight clones of him and meditate a lot."

"That sounds like Piccolo. That tough, huh?"

"Uh-huh!" Chiyo said emphatically, then faltered. "I mean, he wasn't so bad. I don't wanna complain about him."

Goku handed her another chunk of fish, speared on the end of a stick. "It's okay. The Room of Spirit and Time is a really hard place to train in. Even I couldn't handle it when I was a kid, so for you to last a whole year is amazing."

"Really?"

"Really." Goku smiled at her. "It's a weird place, ain't it? It can be really dangerous, but I'm glad Piccolo was there to guide you. Even if he was hard on you."

"It wasn't that," she mumbled. "I missed you and Mom and Gohan, and Piccolo didn't talk much. It was really hard…"

Goku must have heard the crack in her voice, for he put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. "I'm here now. And you're a lot stronger, I can tell. Places like the Room bring out the best in us. I'm proud of you for sticking to it, even when it got tough."

Chiyo grinned up at him and opened her mouth to reply, only to yawn widely.

"And now it's bedtime," Goku added cheerfully, and Chiyo's yawn turned into a squawk of protest. "No buts. We have a big day tomorrow. Three Dragon Balls to find, and I'll need your help, okay?"

Grumbling, Chiyo curled up beside him and closed her eyes. She didn't have to pretend to fall asleep - within minutes the sounds of the fire faded away, and she drifted off.


	2. Chapter 2

Tao Pai-Pai believed above all things that fighting prowess could be taught, but the ability to survive was inborn.

His skill as a martial artist was nothing to sneeze at, to be sure. But his cunning and keen instinct for survival had kept him alive where perhaps his skill had not. Still, he had remained unchallenged for almost two decades now, and there was no reason to believe that would change. He had prevailed through the terror of King Piccolo, and he would live once the monster Cell took over the world. Tao laughed to himself as his destination appeared alongside the road ahead. Yes...a real pity.

The building bristled with security cameras and turrets, but Tao approached the building calmly and waited.

The steel doors slid open after a pause, and he walked down the hallway then turned left. Another pair of pair of doors slid open to his left, and he entered without preamble.

The room was plain and largely empty, except for a desk and a high-backed chair. Television screens covered the rear wall, each showing a different view of the building and the road outside.

Two men stood on either side of the desk, their faces blank and suits immaculate. Another sat in the chair. As Tao entered he slowly swivelled around to face him.

"Mercenary Tao," he said, his accent thick and pronounced. "I hope you've brought the goods you promised me."

Tao smiled. "But of course."

He reached into his pocket, took out his carefully guarded prize, and placed it on the table.

The man in the chair leaned forward, almost biting on his cigar in anticipation. "So these are the famous Dragon Balls that make any wish come true?"

"Valuable artifacts at any price," Tao replied, "and a bargain at 200,000 zeni each."

In truth the price was high, but for the legendary Dragon Balls, one could hardly expect to pay a pittance. The man who owned this building (Tao neither knew nor cared about his name and thought of him simply as the 'boss') was willing to pay.

"And if that monster destroys everything on Earth, I can still survive with these," the boss said. His greedy little eyes lit up as he watched the light flash off the Dragon Balls. "I can sit in my fortress and wait for him to go away."

"I accept gold only."

"And then, when Cell has done his dirty work, I will step up from the rubble and build an empire." The boss chewed on his cigar thoughtfully, and stroked his moustache. "Think of it. No rival gangs, no meddling police." He looked at Tao. "How long will it take for you to find the rest?"

"Don't worry about that," Tao said. "Notice how quickly I found these two."

The boss seemed to consider him for a moment, puffing slowly on his cigar. Then he nodded. "I trust ya, Tao."

WHOOOOP! WHOOOOP!

Tao didn't react as the security alarm began to wail. The boss pressed a button on his desk, looking bemused. "I wasn't expectin' no-one…"

The screen showed the road outside. There were two people standing in front of the main doors. One was a man, broad with blonde hair that stuck up in all directions. The other was a child with wild black hair. They were conversing, their mouths moving silently.

Tao shot a glance at the two Dragon Balls on the table. Was it his imagination, or did they look a little brighter than usual?

No, he was right. The balls were glowing with a soft golden light. And as they watched on the screens, the man reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a round object glowing brightly.

"What, a Dragon Ball?" Tao exclaimed.

"What...?"

The man on the screen looked up at the security camera, then at the doors. It could have been Tao's imagination again, but there was something familiar about him, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Well," he said, with a smirk. "It seems the chicken has brought his own frying pan."

"Eh? Chicken?"

Tao paid no attention to the boss. His own mind was already beginning to calculate the possibilities and outcomes of this situation. The man had one Dragon Ball - could he have more? Could he be searching for them like they were?

_Well,_ he thought with a satisfied smile, _this could only make my job easier._

"We should take care of him at once," he said.

"Er...sure, let's get him."

The boss pressed another button on his desk, and they heard the distant sound of the doors grating as they opened. The security cameras changed to a different view; one of the hallway just inside. The man and the boy walked past the camera, glancing around.

"Alright," the boss said, grinning. "It's time to cook your chicken."

Tao heard one of the bodyguards make a sound like he was going to say something, but he stopped suddenly. No doubt he was protesting about the kid, who would inevitably be caught in the crossfire. Tao had seen children killed before, and as a mercenary he had contributed to it. Such was life. Death could come to any person at any moment, and if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time…it was a shame, but he knew better than to underestimate any young child.

Spears shot from the walls of the hallway. For a moment the security camera's view was entirely eclipsed by flying weapons and dust. The boss and his lackeys cheered noisily.

The dust began to clear. Spears were littered all over the floor, stuck in the walls opposite. But instead of two bodies, the man and the child were standing in the midst of the mess. The child went over to the wall and pulled the spear out effortlessly, as if it weren't stuck in concrete. He - or she - inspected the spearhead and said something to the man.

"Er..." the boss said. He had paused while pumping his fist in the air in celebration. Slowly he lowered his fist until it dropped on the desk. "What just happened? Could someone explain...?"

Tao began to have a very bad feeling about this. Still, he said dryly, "It looks like your weapons haven't been inspected."

"You idiots!" the boss exploded, turning on his two bodyguards. "How many times have I told you to inspect the weapons!"

"You never said that," one of the bodyguards protested, scratching his head.

The boss swivelled in his chair to face the security screens. "Well," he said. "We'll just have to wait until he comes in."

Sure enough the two intruders appeared in the hall moments later, looking like they'd just happened to walk in on their morning stroll. The boss pressed the button on his desk, and the doors slid open.

The man and the child paused in the doorway. Up close Tao could see the muscles bunching under the man's shirt and the strange blonde hair. Again he was struck by that sense of familiarity, but he just couldn't place where he'd seen the man before. Maybe he was a famous athlete or a movie star, or something.

The child tugged on the man's sleeve. "Papa, they have two Dragon Balls!"

The voice was too high pitched to be male. So it was a girl with her hair cut so short that it stuck up in every direction like her companion's...was it her father? Who knew. All Tao cared about was the Dragon Balls they had. "Well, stranger, why don't you come inside?"

The man stopped, glanced around, then spotted the Dragon Balls on the desk. He approached the desk with the girl trailing behind him.

"Alright," he said enthusiastically, "we've got them!"

"I was about to say the same thing," the boss said. The doors slid shut behind the intruders.

"Now just give up the Dragon Balls, nice and slow," Tao said. "Then leave - or this will get ugly."

"Huh?" The man glanced over at him, and his eyes widened. "Mercenary Tao, is that you?"

_Shit._

Tao froze, though he was unable to hide the slight twitch of his mouth.

"Remember me?" the man said, smiling. "It's Son Goku. I know we've had our differences, but it's good to see you."

_Why me? _Tao thought, grimacing. _Why is it always me?_

The bodyguards moved slowly towards Son Goku and the girl.

"First, tell me where you've hidden your chicken," the boss said, jumping out from behind his desk. "I know you have one!"

"Chicken?" Goku replied, looking confused. "Where?"

Tao would have rolled his eyes, but he was too busy twitching in barely controlled fear.

"Don't play dumb!" the boss shouted. "The one with the frying pan!"

The small girl began to giggle.

"Is this chicken like a pet of yours?" Goku asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Stop confusing him!" the bodyguard closest to him shouted. "Just give us your Dragon Balls!"

He lunged forward. One hand shoved into Goku's jacket pocket to grab the Dragon Balls, the other seized his shoulder to knock him over.

"Hey - "

Tao wasn't sure what happened next. One moment the bodyguard was making a grab for the Dragon Balls - the next he was sitting on the floor about ten feet away, groaning. The wall above his head was cracked, like he'd been thrown into it with some force.

Goku looked at his hand in surprise. "I should learn not to use that much power."

Shaking, the other bodyguard pulled the gun from his belt and fired at him.

This time it was the girl who moved. She charged straight at the bodyguard, her hand moving blindingly fast - _was she _catching _the bullets,_ Tao thought incredulously - and knocked the man's feet out from under him.

"Stop it!" she scolded, and wrenched the gun out of the lackey's hands. "Don't you know these things are dangerous?"

The gun looked ridiculous in her hands, but Tao only had a split second for the thought before she broke it in half, the metal crumpling like paper. She tied it in a neat bow and handed it back to him, then hopped off his chest and pulled him upright.

_Why me?_ Tao thought again.

"Th-they're some kinda monsters," the bodyguard cried. He climbed to his feet, clutching his wrist, and backed away. "B-boss, what do we do n-now?!"

"Are you okay?" Goku asked the other bodyguard. "I'm sorry about that."

The man could only chatter through his teeth.

"Nobody panic!" the boss shouted. "I have a defence mechanism for bad situations." He ran to his desk, climbed up on the chair, and pressed another button. "Get inside!"

Tao made his way over to the desk with a sinking heart. A dome made of black glass began to rise from the floor. The other bodyguard scrambled up and staggered towards the desk, crying, "Wait for me!"

"Whatcha gonna do now, strong guys?" the boss said, smirking. "This wall is solid. Just try to get in. I double dare ya - try it!"

"Can I?" the girl said eagerly.

"Sure," Goku said with a shrug.

The kid reached up and pressed a finger to the dome. Her finger seemed to push against the glass, then _through _it. Cracks began to spread across its tinted surface. There was a pause, then the entire dome splintered.

"Tao!" the boss said frantically, tugging on the mercenary's sleeve. "Please make him go away!"

"I feel bad," Goku said, and looked at the terrified men clustered around the desk. "You guys spent all that time finding Dragon Balls and I don't have anything to give you in exchange for them. I wish I could make it a fair trade."

Tao stared hard at Goku. From what he remembered (although it was over twenty years ago), he had been an incredibly strong fighter but not all that bright. Not exactly stupid, but trusting and naive. Could he still be the same? He'd only been a kid back then, but it was worth a shot.

"How about this," he said. "Let's play a game." He took one wrist and began to unscrew it. The hand popped off and he twitched back his sleeve, then shook the arm. Three puzzle rings fell from the hollow compartment and landed on the table with a clatter. "If you can untangle all three by tomorrow at dawn, then our Dragon Balls will be yours. If you can't, then you will surrender the ones you've collected. Fair?"

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"Ooh, puzzle rings," the boss said. "Good idea."

"Yes. So, Goku, do we have ourselves a deal?"

"You bet," Goku replied cheerfully. "I've never tried it, but I'm sure it can't be too bad."

_If you do figure it out, we won't be around to see it,_ Tao thought, though he hid his triumphant thoughts behind a pleasant smile. He saw the young girl looking at him almost suspiciously and wondered for a moment if he should take the girl as a hostage. Then again, after he remembered how she'd crushed that gun, maybe not.

"What say we get our good friend a comfortable chair?" he continued, and screwed his hand back on. "I'll take your jacket and hang it up."

"Sure."

Tao removed Goku's jacket and tried not to flinch as he saw the massive biceps flex.

"Now we hate to disturb you," he said. "So we'll withdraw. We'll leave this man with you if you need anything - " he gestured to the man Goku had thrown into the wall, then pressed a button on the desk. "And I'll just switch this off."

"Uh-huh," Goku mumbled, and sat down at the table. He began to worry at the puzzle rings.

_Yes_, Tao thought triumphantly, as they made their way from the building. _There is more than one way to defeat Son Goku._


	3. Chapter 3

Chiyo had never seen so many TV screens in one place.

They covered the back wall of the room she was in, and she'd found more out in the hall and in another room.

The bodyguard said they were for showing where people were inside the building. Chiyo didn't know his name, but he'd been nice enough. He'd showed her how to turn the screens on and off and he'd found paper and crayons for her to draw while Papa worked on the puzzle rings.

One lay in pieces on the table already, and Chiyo had wanted to try the second one. Goku wouldn't let her, though - the challenge was for him, he said, and he needed to do it alone.

Well, _that _was no fun.

Even colouring was boring after a while, so Chiyo wandered outside for fresh air. The sun was setting over the farmlands; everything was awash in colour.

She wondered what Gohan was doing. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been at Kami-sama's palace. He could have gone home to Mom; she hoped he had. Mom would be lonely at home by herself.

The lights were on when she returned to the room, and Goku was pacing back and forth with his arms folded.

"It feels like my brain is frying," he muttered. Chiyo tugged on his arm. "Eh?"

"I'm hungry, Papa," she said. "Can we get food?"

Goku cast another glance at the two puzzle rings on the table, and grimaced. "I have to finish these before dawn."

"But I'm _hungry_, Papa. Do you have any zeni?" When he shook his head absently, she turned to the bodyguard. "Mister, do you have food?"

"Boss says I can't leave this room," the man said warily.

"Well I can, can't I? I wanna eat dim sum."

The bodyguard looked at her for a moment, puzzled, then began to dig in his pockets. He pulled out a few bills and handed them to her. "There's a town 'bout ten miles down the road, but it'll take you a while t' get there."

"That's okay!" Chiyo said cheerfully. "I can fly!"

"Uh...well, that's...good?"

Chiyo bounded up to the table Goku was sitting at, and patted his shoulder. "Hey, Papa? Do you want food?"

"Not now, Chiyo," Goku said vaguely, staring at the intact puzzle rings. "Daddy's busy."

* * *

The sun was just rising over the mountains when Goku parted the last puzzle ring with shaking fingers.

"I got it." He stood up so fast the chair fell over with a clang. "I got it! I got it!"

"Very good, sir!" the bodyguard said, applauding. "Very good!"

There was no sound from Chiyo. She was curled in the boss's chair fast asleep, the crayons and paper abandoned on the floor. Goku went to wake her, then thought better of it. Instead he scooped her up with one arm, the puzzle rings in his free hand, and poked his head out into the corridor.

"Hello?"

His voice echoed oddly in the empty corridor. Goku stepped out into the hallway and wandered up and down, peeking into the open rooms. "Hello…?"

Chiyo stirred in his arms and lifted her head off his shoulder, yawning widely. "Papa? S'it morning already?"

"Sure is," Goku said cheerfully, and let her wiggle out of his grasp. "Did all that drawing wear you out?"

Chiyo glanced around. "Hey, where's all the other men?"

The bodyguard followed at their heels. He seemed as puzzled as Goku was.

"Maybe they went to get some breakfast," he suggested.

"Maybe." Goku shrugged. He didn't remember seeing them around the whole night, though he'd been focused on untangling the puzzle rings. "Don't worry! I'll find them."

He cast out his senses and quickly focused in on Tao's chi. It was a lot higher than the average human's, which made it easier to find.

Goku and Chiyo appeared some two hundred miles away on the bank of a river, where Tao and the other men were wading in the river.

"Aaaarrghhh!"

"Look, guys," Goku said and opened his hand. "I'm done!"

Tao looked like he was about to cry, or throw up, or both. "How...pleasant."

"Well, I guess I'll take my Dragon Balls."

"Well..yeah…" the boss said, blinking slowly. "Uh, go ahead…"

Goku dropped the puzzle rings on the ground and scooped up the Dragon Balls, sitting neatly on top of his jacket. He rolled the Balls into his jacket and stood.

"You guys take care now."

He and Chiyo lifted into the air and flew away, leaving the men to stare in confusion after them.

* * *

"Papa, you knew that man, didn't you?" Chiyo said when they were high in the air. "The one you called Tao."

"You could say that. I fought him a long time ago. He nearly beat me, too!"

"_Him?_" Chiyo said incredulously. "But he's not even half as strong as you!"

"Maybe not now, but he was a real challenge when I was a kid. I was nothing compared to you and Gohan at that age."

The Dragon Radar beeped suddenly, and Chiyo glanced down at it. There were two yellow dots making their way across the screen.

"Only two left," Goku said cheerfully. "One is east from here, and one is north. You get to pick which one, okay?"

Chiyo took the Radar, stared at it intensely for a moment, then pointed to the dot moving east. "That one."

"Okay. So you just click this button here, and see? We have a better view of where it is." Goku ruffled her hair. "We should find these two by the afternoon, then can we go home and see Mom. How's that?"

Instead of responding with enthusiasm like he expected, Chiyo looked rather sober. Going back home meant she would have to acknowledge that the Cell Game was really happening, and that in a week the world could end.

"Papa," she said after a moment. "Was everything we did worth it? D'you think it'll be enough?"

Goku looked at her for a long moment. His expression softened.

"I don't want you to worry one bit," he said. "Everything will be okay."

"Promise?" Chiyo said doubtfully.

"Yes! Everything will be fine. We have a whole seven days until the Cell Game, and I want us to have fun. Now, what do you say we get somethin' to eat?" Chiyo's stomach growled, and they both laughed. "I'll take that as a yes."

Goku sped up a little, and Chiyo followed at his side. His words hadn't completely banished her fear and doubt, but she knew he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. And while she was flying as fast as she could, with the wind making her hair wilder than ever and the sun shining on her back, it was hard to remember the world was ever in danger.

For now, that had to be enough.


End file.
